munions; considered as an atmosphere, it is doubtful if any other Christian denomination is so pervasive or influential. The first International Council of Congregationalists was held in London in 1891. Its President was the late lamented Robert W. Dale, D.D., of Birmingham, England. It is difficult to say positively where the suggestion of such a gathering was first heard. It was mentioned by Drs. Hannay, of London, and Dexter, of Boston, at the National Council at St. Louis. It seems to have assumed a more definite form at a meeting of Australian Congregationalists some time later. It was surely advocated in Canada. Perhaps the feeling that the time had arrived for world-wide Cooperation was atmospheric and simultaneous. At the meeting in London, in 1891, delegates to the number of three hundred were in attendance; one hundred from the British Islands, one hundred from the United States, and one hundred from the rest of the world. That first gathering was cipal Fairbairn. Since that meeting the inroads of death have been many and serious. Drs. Dale and Allon, Professor Stearns, Principals Reynolds and Neuth, the Rev. Herber Evans, the inspired Welshman; Thomas Green, W. F. Clarkson, and many others, have entered into the larger life. The second Council will meet in Boston beginning September 20. The PresiIdent will be the Hon. James B. Angell, LL.D., President of Michigan University, and the preacher will be the Rev. THE REV. H. ARNOLD THOMAS The papers memorable in many ways. presented were of enduring value. The consecrated scholarship of the denomination was well represented. Among the memorable papers and addresses were those of the President, Dr. Dale, on "The Divine Life in Man ;" that of the late Professor Stearns, of Bangor, Me., on "The Outlook in Theology;" the sermon by Dr. Goodwin, of Chicago, which was especially remarkable for its ultraCalvinism; the closing addresses by Drs. W. E. Griffis and Joseph Parker, and the various speeches and addresses of Prin A. M. Fairbairn, D.D., Principal of Mansfield College, at Oxford, England. The officers are selected by the Committee of Arrangements. At the last meeting of the Council the President was an Englishman and the preacher an American. The Committee on the Programme for the approaching gathering is constituted follows: the Rev. Drs. G. A. Gordon, A. E. Dunning, Arthur Little, and H. A. Hazen, of Boston; P. S. Moxom, of Springfield, and Amory The Council as H. Bradford, of Montclair. will number four hundred, of whom two hundred will be from the United States. No business will be transacted except a little that may have reference to its own perpetuation. The sessions will be entirely occupied with the presentation of papers on the great practical and speculative subjects which have relation to the religious life of the individual and to the kingdom of God. kingdom of God. After the delivery of the prepared addresses there will be opportunity for discussion of nearly all the subjects by the members of the Council. The following outline will convey a hint of what the meetings will be. The first evening will be devoted to a reception, at which there will be speaking by the Governor of the Commonwealth, the Mayor of the City, and the address by the President of the Council, the Hon. James B. Angell. Fundamental Thursday- Morning: Friday-Morning: The Christian Idea of the State, Mr. J. Compton Rickett, M.P. Municipal Government as a Sphere for the Christian Man, Messrs. W. Crosfield, J.P., and Samuel B. Capen. Evening: Distinctive Characteristics of Christianity, the Rev. Messrs. Charles R. Brown and John D. Jones. The Influence of the Study of Other Religions upon Christian Theology, Dr. Fairbairn. THE REV. R. J. CAMPBELL Saturday-Morning: The Church in Social Reforms, Albert Spicer, Esq., M.P., and Professor Graham Taylor, D.D. Afternoon: An excursion to Salem. Sunday-Morning: No session. Afternoon: The Lord's Supper at the Old South Church. Monday-Morning: Tendencies of Modern Education, Professor John Massie, M.A., J. P., and the Rev. J. Hirst Hollowell. Afternoon: The Influence of Our Public Schools on the Caste Spirit, Drs. F. A. Noble and L. D. Bevan. The Religious Motive in Education as Illustrated in the History of American Colleges, President W. J. Tucker. Evening: Addresses by eminent educators-Presidents Eliot, Hyde, Slocum, and Henry Hopkins, D.D. Tuesday Morning: The Pastoral Function, Congregational and Civic, the Rev. W. B. Selbie, M.A., and Dr. Reuen Thomas. The Spiritual Life in Our Churches, the Wednesday-Morning: Obligations and Opportunities of Congregationalism: In Great Britain, Robert Bruce, D.D.; In America, Professor Williston Walker; In Canada, Dr. J. H. George; In Victoria, the Rev. John J. Halley; in other countries, speakers to be named. Scottish Congregationalism, the Rev. James Stark, D.D. Afternoon: Independence and Fellowship, Drs. A. J. Lyman and John Brown. Duty of the Stronger to the Weaker Churches, Rev. H. Arnold Thomas. Evening: Reception by the Congregational Club. Greetings from Other Denominations: Bishop Lawrence, Drs. A. H. Strong, C. Cuthbert Hall, F. G. Peabody, and a Methodist representative. Thursday-Morning: International Relations and Responsibilities, Dr. Lyman Abbott. The Christian Attitude Toward War in the Light of Recent Events, Dr. Alexander Mackennal. Afternoon: Adap DR. JOHN BROWN tation of Methods to New Conditions in Foreign Missions, the Rev. R. Wardlaw Thompson. The Permanent Motive in Missionary Work, Dr. Charles M. Lamson, and a missionary to be named. Evening: The Living Christ, Alfred Cave, D.D. The Holy Spirit in the Churches, Dr. F. W. Gunsaulus. Friday-An excursion to Plymouth. The American speakers are so well known to the readers of The Outlook that I will limit my introduction to the visitors from abroad. A prevalent opinion among those who have mingled only with members of the Anglican communion is that Nonconformists in England may be very good people, but that they are narrow, commonplace, commercial, and belong mainly to the lower orders of English society. The delusion, which has been carefully nourished by the friends of the Establishment, will disappear in the presence of the cultured and eloquent men who will represent the English Congregational churches at the approaching Council. There are no choicer spirits in any communion than those who hold to the Pilgrim prin THE REV. C. SYLVESTER HORNE ciples in Old England. For convenience I will divide those who will attend the meetings into four groups-the elder ministers, those of middle age, the younger, and, lastly, the laymen. In the group of the elders I find the names of a great quartette of scholars and preachers. The first place belongs to the man to whom more than to any other now living this Council owes its existence and success, Alexander Mackennal, D.D., of Bowdon, Cheshire. Dr. Mackennal was the Secretary at the first Council, and will be the English Vice-President of the second. The church of which he is pastor and was selected as the successor of Dr. Hannay as Secretary of that body -an honor which he declined. He is now perhaps the chief statesman of English Congregationalism. The second member of this quartette is the most eminent theologian now living. among Englishspeaking people, Dr. Fairbairn, of Oxford. No other theological teacher of our time has so wide an influence as this Oxford Professor, whose voice has been heard not only in England but also in this country, and who has just returned from his duties as Haskell lecturer in India. Dr. Fairbairn will be the preacher of the Council, and will also speak on Comparative Religion, of which subject he is a master. The third member of the quartette is Dr. John Brown, of Bedford, the biographer of Bunyan and the historian of the Pilgrim Fathers. He is the pastor of the famous "Bunyan Church." In his fair city in the Midlands he has lived until his name has become the pride of his fellow-citizens, while Dissenters and Churchmen alike delight to do honor to the man and his ministry. In historical scholarship, spiritual insight, and charm THE REV. ALEXANDER MACKENNAL, D.D. of style few writers or preachers of our times surpass Dr. Brown. The fourth member of this group is Dr. Cave, Principal of Hackney College in London, and a theological writer whose works are well known both in his land and ours. In the list of ministers of middle age I mention first Professor Massie, of Mansfield College, who has an international reputation among Biblical scholars. His special department is New Testament Exegesis. Next comes the Rev. W. J. Woods, the successor of the late Dr. Alexander Hannay in the Secretariat of the Congregational Union of England and Wales. It is enough to say of him that his service as Secretary has justified his election to the distinguished position which he holds. Following him is Dr. Wardlaw Thompson, whom I think I may call the great Secretary of the London Missionary Society; an unsurpassed administrator, and a man whose wisdom and sympathy are recognized wherever the work of the London Missionary Society has penetrated. Dr. Thompson more nearly resembles the late Dr. N. G. Clark, of the American Board of Foreign Missions, than any other missionary secretary whom I have known. The Rev. J. Hirst Hollowell, who is to speak on the Tendencies of Modern Education, has made this subject a specialty, and is an earnest and able advocate of the best methods of popular education for all the English people. While in the pastorate he was a "citizenpastor." He is now devoting his entire time to social and educational questions in their religious aspects. The Rev. H. Arnold Thomas, of Bristol, is the Chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales for the current year. His lofty character and singularly accomplished and genial manners, combined with eminent spirituality and large ability, have made him one of the most popular men in the English churches. For more than thirty years he has ministered to the same people in Bristol, and his beautiful personality is the pride of the city in which he lives. The last name in this group of men in middle life is the Rev. P. T. Forsyth, D.D., pastor of Emmanuel Church, in the University City of Cambridge. In intellectual clearness and strength Dr. Forsyth ranks next to Dr. Fairbairn among English Congregationalists. I have often thought that his true place is in a professor's chair. Dr. Dale regarded him THE REV. P. T. FORSYTH, D.D. as the ablest of the younger ministers of the Kingdom. He has long been in poor health, and works under great difficulty, but with surpassing intensity and power. His sermon at a recent meeting of the Congregational Union in Birmingham on "The Holy Father" was one of the most memorable discourses ever given before that body. A quiet, retiring man of singular genius, he is a preacher for teachers and scholars, who has found a congenial field in a pulpit under the shadow of a venerable university. as one of the most remarkable preachers of the present day. He is, I believe, a graduate of Christ Church College, Oxford, and was trained a Churchman, but has since become a Congregationalist from conviction. It is said that not since Frederick Robertson preached in Brighton has that city been so moved by the ministry of any other preacher. Still another name was originally upon our programme, and its removal was a serious disappointment. The presence of the Rev. Robert F. Horton, D.D., would have been a rare Passing now to the younger ministers, addition to the meeting. Considerably studies. It made no mistake. For ten years he has maintained the best traditions of that historic church, and is still hardly more than thirty-five years of age. Two other young men, whose names were at first on the programme, but who have been prevented from attending, are the Revs. J. H. Jowett and R. J. Campbell. The former succeeded Dr. Dale as pastor of Carr's Lane Church, in Birmingham. For three years he has been in that pulpit, and the church is as full, the people as interested, and the work in all departments as successful as in the days of Dr. Dale and John Angell James. The Rev. R. J. Campbell, of under forty-five, he has made for himself a large and growing place in the English-speaking world. I do not know whether the Rev. Alexander Mearns will be present, but, if he is, he will receive the heartiest kind of a welcome from those who know something of his wonderful work among the poor of London, and who remember him as the author of "The Bitter Cry of Outcast London," the most remarkable work of a decade in its influence on the social life of the world's metropolis. Of these men it may not be invidious to say that Fairbairn is the pre-eminent theologian, that the good work of Wardlaw Thompson is known in all lands, and that the splendid promise of Horne and Jowett and Campbell gives hope for the future of a race of preachers among the English churches as great as any in the past. Of the laymen who will attend, Mr. Albert Spicer is a member of Parliament, and perhaps the most prominent layman in English Congregationalism. He lives in a palatial home at Lancaster Gate, near the Marble Arch, in London. He is a leader among the churches, has |